When high means low....

Poll: Disapproval of Supreme Court reaches new high

By Nick Gass

As the Supreme Court convenes for its fall session on Monday, public disapproval of the institution has never been higher, according to the results of a Gallup poll released Friday.

About 50 percent of Americans said they disapprove of the highest court in the land, the highest share of disapproval since Gallup has been tracking the statistic over the last 15 years, while 45 percent said they approve of the work the nine justices are doing, and 5 percent have no opinion.

While still within the margin of error, the court's approval had traditionally been above 50 percent between 2000 and 2010, while it has been much more split in the last half-decade.

The partisan gap between Democrats and Republicans narrowed, if ever so slightly, from the last Gallup survey in July, where 76 percent of Democrats they saw the court in a favorable light. This time, it's 67 percent. Republicans, whose approval of the court hit a record low in July at 18 percent, saw their share of approval climb slightly to 26 percent in the latest survey.

The court is expected to take up a variety of hot-button issues this session, including cases pertaining to capital punishment, affirmative action and redistricting.

The poll was conducted Sept. 9-13 via telephone, surveying 1,025 adults nationwide with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.